Postcards Home from Korea

A postcard of the Seven Star Gate at Pyongyang in 1909 sent by Mary Armstrong to a friend Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

For many Americans, the holiday season has begun. Millions of people ― despite the pandemic ― will travel throughout the United States to celebrate the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas with their families and friends. Considering this is the 400th article of this series and the start of the holiday season, I thought it would be nice to look at postcards sent by Americans in Korea to families back home.

It is amazing how similar postcards from the past resemble postcards of the present (well, at least before the internet). In October 1921, a visitor to Seoul named Ruth jotted a quick note to her family in Fukuoka, Japan:

"Dear Family, Wish you were here to go sightseeing with me. This is a pretty city, more American-like than Fukuoka. Enjoyed a trip uptown this p.m. found several things to take home. Beautiful linen suited for curtains, scarfs, etc. Cheap, if you want some I'll bring you a bolt."

A postcard of Mokpo in the 1900s Robert Neff Collection

One can imagine a present-day Ruth (prior to the pandemic) wandering through the markets of Insa-dong or Myeong-dong searching for the perfect souvenirs to send home.

Aunt Omie's postcard of Korean women in June 1909 Robert Neff Collection

Burke Lawton's postcard of Korean laborers with A-frames on their backs in 1909. Where are the wooden shoes? Robert Neff Collection

The bitter coldness of Korean winters was also a popular subject for letters, so this postcard from an American named Willie to his "Doc" in the Philippines may seem somewhat familiar. He wrote in a very short note that he was in Mokpo and was "going to Seoul via boat visiting Chemulpo, Dalny and Port Arthur. If it gets much colder [I] will come back in cold storage to keep warm."

It would be easy to empathize with him except the postcard was dated Sept. 25, 1913, and even in winter Mokpo is fairly warm when compared to other places on the peninsula.

Sometimes visitors provided explanations of the images. In June 1909, "Aunt Omie" ― who was staying at the Astor House (Hotel) in Seoul ― described the women on the postcard to her nephew: "The women on this postal are of the middle class. The lower class dress in white." Unsurprisingly, she also felt inclined to mention the weather. "We have had nice cool rainy days lately. We return to Japan tomorrow. We will not be hot and dusty on the train as it was coming here." She was probably unaware that she was leaving at a perfect time ― just before the hottest and wettest part of the year.

In November 1909, Burke Lawton ― who seems to have been engaged in some sort of business in Seoul ― sent a postcard home in which he wrote:

"I am hoping that somewhere near Christmas time you will receive the Korean wooden shoes which I am sending you. These shoes are worn during muddy weather and are well adapted to keep the feet dry."

In her "Christmas Greetings" postcard of 1911, Susan Doty Miller, a missionary in Cheongju, kept her message short and sweet; she merely described the objects that were clearly visible in the image: "Knives, spoons, padlocks, iron frames for brasiers which are much used for cooking and for warming the houses. Also horse-shoes etc." Almost as an afterthought ― or perhaps as an excuse for a lackluster communication ― she added that her health was improving but she was still unable to resume her regular work.

Miners were a great source of postcards and interesting tidbits. In 1916, Henry W. Hayden, a miner at the Seoul Mining Company in northern Korea, wrote:

"I have just been to Ping Yang [Pyongyang] with the bullion party. It is a most enjoyable trip by motor cars and horses ― 110 miles. The hunting is fine here. Deer, boars, ducks + pheasants, and keeps us all pretty busy in our spare time. I like the country fine."

Susan Doty Miller's 1911 "Christmas greeting" showing a Korean blacksmith shop Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection

What makes his note interesting ― at least to me ― is that he minimalizes his trip with the bullion party. The various mining camps transported their gold by horses, mules and cars to Pyongyang, escorted by well-armed guards, and would return to the camp with the payroll ― this was known as a bullion party. Just the previous month, the bullion party of the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company (OCMC) was ambushed by at least nine bandits on its return trip from Pyongyang. Fortunately, the guards were able to fend off the robbers and the payroll (about $75,000) was saved but several of the bullion party were wounded and a couple died.

In the spring of 1911, Azalea Wood (the wife of an American miner at one of the OCMC's smaller mining camps) informed her mother ― by postcard ― she had just given birth to a boy. Unlike Miller's card, Wood went into some detail (in small cramped lettering) describing the difficulty of her six and a half hours of labor and having no doctor in the vicinity. According to her, by the time the doctor arrived from the main camp, the baby boy had already been born and there was nothing left for him to do.

Picture-postcards of family members were very popular ― especially during the holiday season. In 1915, Jesse W. Hirst, a doctor at Severance Hospital in Seoul, sent a picture of his children home as a form of Christmas/New Year card ― on the back he only gave a holiday greeting. Apparently he was too busy to write much.

A postcard of the Pyongyang area sent by Hayden in 1916 Robert Neff Collection

Sometimes Americans sent postcards of the city where they lived in Korea. As they often described their residence and neighbors in their long letters to their families, they apparently did not see the need to write much on the back of the card ― fortunately, many did take the time to note on the card their home's exact location.

There were, though, some exceptions. In 1909, Mary R. Armstrong exchanged picture-postcards with a friend in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and on the back of her card she wrote:

"This one is a bit of the wall and one gate of the city of Pyengyang [Pyongyang], Korea, near which I spent five years ― 1902-1907 ― as teacher of a little American school for the sons and daughters of the missionaries at Pyengyang."

A group of OCMC miners and their families enjoy some free time at the mines circa 1913. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection

The Morris family, missionaries in Wonju, sent not only pictures of the city but also very frank descriptions. Mrs. Morris sent a series of cards to her mother in January 1918 and one of them shows the main street of Wonju. She wrote:

"This picture must have been taken on a holiday so that all the doors are closed. They are usually all wide open so that it looks quite different…. This is our Main Street. Looks as if it had been taken on a muddy, rainy day. There is this one two story brick building and all the rest are thatched Korean houses. That is most of them are. There are some tiled buildings. Will try to find a picture of this same street on a Fair Day. Will look quite different, for they have a large market here."

A picture-postcard of Dr. Jesse Hirst's family in 1915 Robert Neff Collection

The description seems rather benign except when she added:

"It's bright and sunshiny today [Jan. 20] but very cold ― a penetrating cold. The daily paper is full of the suffering from the cold. The churches and Salvation Army are doing all they can to help out and are reaching lots of people already near death. Many have died in spite of them."

Was it merely the cold weather killing the population or was it something else? Two months later the Spanish Influenza began and there were very few places on this planet safe from it ― Korea did not escape its deadly touch.

It is a shame that technology has pretty much rendered postcards and "snail mail" as relics of the past. Will our emails and Facebook posts still be accessible to our future generations or will this part of history cease to exist?

I would like to thank Diane Nars for providing me with so much valuable assistance and the use of her collection. I would also like to thank Jan Downing for her assistance and collection as well as Jihoon Suk, Hyunuk Park, Nate Kornegay and Dale Quarrington for their assistance. And, of course, I would like to thank you ― the reader ― for helping this series reach its 400th article.